What's everyone's plans for their Tax Refunds?

[pbmom]

Tax season is gearing up and just wanted to see what everyone's plans were for their tax refunds. Mine will be going into savings and hopefully paying down some debt. That's defintely my goal this year.

[Deleted]

Looks like it is going to go towards a trip to Hawaii.

[kimber45]

I don't think we will get one this year and will probably end up paying in. We lost that little thing called a dependent, when he graduated from college

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

If we get one, which DH thinks we will since we now have a dependent and childcare costs it is going straight into our EF to beef it back up. Depending on what we get a small portion may go to a new couch, I REALLY want a new couch.

[sarcasticgirl]

it's my first time filing as married, so i'm interested to see how things change.

we're putting ours into savings for a move this summer.

[poohbiscit1]

Most of ours is earmarked for our family vacation/reunion in July. Depending on the amount we may be able to use some of it towards some of out debt too.

[dancinmama]

Anything we get will go into our Retirement EF. DH plans on taking early retirement in Feb 2012 (fingers crossed).

[belladisastre]

Hopefully I'll be getting one... if so, going straight into my EF that was depleted with the loss of my job in October.

[constanz22]

Ha Ha, REFUND?! I am going to owe about 2K

[8 Bit WWBG]

$1,500 is earmarked as going towards the 0% card holding the HVAC that earned us said $1,500.

The rest will go towards some debt reduction, and upcoming wedding expenses. Some might be hidden towards an Android tablet mid to late this year.

[vnot]

I will be using it to pay off some CC's if I get any refund. I really really really want to pay off my CC's by the end of the year.

[phil5185]

Through March 12, 2010, the average tax refund was a record $3,036, up $266 from the same period a year earlier, Shulman said in a statement.

Looks like the average filer got about $3000 refunded for 2009 (in 2010).
I wonder why people over-pay during the year, why not have an extra $250/m auto-deposited into a Roth (or something) a year earlier, and putting it where it can compound?
The difference between how people treat 'found' money vs 'earned' money is major. 'Found' money goes for reunion, new couch, trip to Hawaii - 'earned' money already went to avoid last year's credit card debt, etc.
(I haven't had a tax refund in over 25 yrs - I make sure of it.)

[Deleted]

I am expecting to get about $3000 back when I file my federal taxes. maybe another $500 from state.

[pbmom]

Jan 13, 2011 13:48:21 GMT -5 phil5185 said:

Through March 12, 2010, the average tax refund was a record $3,036, up $266 from the same period a year earlier, Shulman said in a statement.

Looks like the average filer got about $3000 refunded for 2009 (in 2010).

That definitely wasn't the case for me!

[Sam_2.0]

We should get around $1-3000, depending on which estimator was right & how the real numbers all shake out. I know the income portions were correct, so waiting to see what will be deductible as far as business expenses go. This was the first year for DH to be self-employed, so I think I over-worried & over-withheld.

Ours will pay off 3 smaller CCs, and then the rest goes to start the maternity leave fund. I should know around the same time if I get a bonus or not, and if so that should finish out the leave fund. If not, then we up our savings goals until we hit it.

[reader79]

I am going to get little or no refund this year. I usually get around $250-300 combined fed & state, but I sold some stock in December and expect that liability to be around $277. I am single, with no dependants, and don't have a mortgage.

But my sister - who can't afford to pay her own rent or for food for her two children - is expecting around $2.5-3K, and has plans to go to the Virgin Islands for a wedding with the $$.

[Frugal Nurse]

Ours will be going straight into a savings account to pay for maternity leave. I'm not pregnant yet, but we're trying, and we want to have enough saved so I can take the whole 12 weeks. I don't get benefits through my job (insurance is through my husband), so all the maternity leave will come straight out of our pockets!

[Wisconsin Beth]

It's going to beef up the money market account - which is our underfunded e-fund. We played with our withdrawals last year so I don't think we're going to be getting very much of one but we'll see what happens.

[teachermom]

Mine is going to beef up my EF and then into savings. Taken a hit this month but will be ok.

Teachermom

[chicg]

"I wonder why people over-pay during the year, why not have an extra $250/m auto-deposited into a Roth (or something) a year earlier, and putting it where it can compound?"
Phil - I think the fact that this is a get-out-of-debt Board vs an investment Board has a lot to do with that. You make complete sense but I would bet most people on WIR need the forced-savings. Many here struggle to get an EF established, I think if the money were earned throughout the year, it would not be applied to debt/svings as diligently as the lump sum. We all know how to do basic math, it's usually emotional spending, impulse, discipline where we messed up. The forced-savings helps remove those temptations which is also valuable.
That said, I'm almost out of debt. This will probably be my last year with a refund and I plan to apply it to my cc debt (at 0%), which should be enough for me to finally win my race! I agree with you. Getting refund is not the most efficient use of the money, but when in debt the whole thing can be overwhelming!

[mommax4]

frugalnurse-have you looked into short-term disability insurance? It will usually cover pregnancy-related leave (6-8 weeks is typical). So long as you're not currently pregnant and don't get pregnant during the waiting period (usually 1-3 months) it can help cover your costs. I've used it twice and got 2/3 of my salary for 4 of the 6 weeks each time. That was through an employer sponsored plan, so I'm not sure what an individual plan would look like. It might be something to consider though.

[boosmom]

It usually goes to the home maintenance fund. If we get extra above the standard amount, then the rest goes to the regular savings.

[sbcalimom]

My guess based on last year is that we'll probably break even between state and federal. I think we got like $200 back from the Feds but owed the state like $150. If I estimated wrong and we do get anything substantial then we'll put it in maternity leave savings for #2's arrival in June. Our income is really variable so it is very hard to estimate our liabilities. I have extra taken out on my job and DHs 2nd job so depending on how much we make, sometimes we get a refund and sometimes we owe. I'm usually just thrilled if we don't owe more than $2-300.

[suzwantstobefree]

I too have estimated my tax liability and adjusted my withholding. However, if you have something other than W-2 income, then it is harder. I overwithheld (I hope) just a little because it is difficult to estimate what will happen with my rental home. It was vacant for a month and I had some repairs so that should result in a refund. It wasn't intentional, but I am not going to obsess about it either.

1/2 is going to savings and 1/2 is going to pay down my mortgage, if I get a refund!!!

[jenna30]

It will go to savings to pay our sky-high personal prop taxes for '11.

[econstudent]

Jan 13, 2011 13:48:21 GMT -5 phil5185 said:

Looks like the average filer got about $3000 refunded for 2009 (in 2010).
I wonder why people over-pay during the year, why not have an extra $250/m auto-deposited into a Roth (or something) a year earlier, and putting it where it can compound?
The difference between how people treat 'found' money vs 'earned' money is major. 'Found' money goes for reunion, new couch, trip to Hawaii - 'earned' money already went to avoid last year's credit card debt, etc.
(I haven't had a tax refund in over 25 yrs - I make sure of it.)

In past years, I have tried to get as close to break-even as possible, but this year I'll get about a $3k refund because we had a baby this year. The baby was born in December, so even if we'd wanted to take advance EITC payments, there wouldn't have been time.

[muttleynfelix]

I don't know if we will get back anything or not. I try to adjust our withholdings, but don't think I've done a good job of it. Anyway, anything we get back will go replenish our e-fund after stupid 80 year old lady went the wrong way down a one-way street, came to the intersection and thought it was a 4-way stop and ended up totalling my '98 170k mile car (that we loved).

[redwagon]

We should get a pretty decent refund this year. Our first year filing married, so we'll see how it all shakes out. But here's the plan:

Beef EF back up to $5k (so maybe $1500 there)
$300 for a new microwave
The rest to pay down credit card debt.

maybe $100 to each of us for "fun money" but that would depend on how much we get back. We really want to pay down CC debt. And yes, we will be adjusting withholdings for 2011 now that we are married so it will come out more even next year.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I wonder why people over-pay during the year, why not have an extra $250/m auto-deposited into a Roth (or something) a year earlier, and putting it where it can compound?"

We break even. I've never recieved a federal refund before and last year we owed $1. For me that is close enough and I don't need to play around with it till I owe.

It just happens that this year we had a kid and use daycare, so we might be looking at a small refund this year.

[Deleted]

I think I'll owe between $300-$500 combined (state and fed). So, no refund for me.